It is a massive burden to place on a player with just three caps to his name but a move O'Sullivan has been considering for a while as it becomes imperative for Ireland to get their back division moving again.

Peter Stringer, who has only been dropped once before in his 79-Test career, has been nowhere near his best here in France and is excluded from the match 22 altogether.

Related Articles

It could just be that his lack of form is the main factor that has been holding Ireland back. Possibly not, but O'Sullivan has decided he can wait no longer to find out.

"Eoin comes straight into the side based on the type of game he's capable of playing," said O'Sullivan yesterday. "He fits the bill for this particular match.

"It was a tough call but, like every player, Peter accepts that getting dropped sometimes comes with the territory. It's often the making of a player. I know he'll bounce back from this. He's been the heartbeat of the side many times before and he will be again. Peter knows more than anyone else that he hasn't been on top of his game."

The diminutive Reddan, 26, finished last season like a train for Wasps and was one of the stand-out players in the London club's Heineken Cup triumph over Leicester. However, he has been playing second fiddle to Stringer and Isaac Boss over the last 18 months.

That hasn't fazed him in the past though. Three years ago Reddan was getting virtually no rugby at Munster, where Stringer was again in residence and Tomas O'Leary was considered second choice, and he gratefully accepted the then Wasps coach Warren Gatland's invitation to move to London.

Although initially competing against Matt Dawson for the starting place, Reddan gladly accepted Dawson's offer to help with his game and has been in touch with the former England World Cup winner this week.

After Dawson's retirement the coast was clear and Reddan quickly developed as one of Wasps keys players, with both backs and forwards responding to his prompting. Club captain Lawrence Dallaglio has been singing his praises, most recently just before the start of the tournament when he championed his cause again.

"Eoin was superb for us last season, arguably the pick of the scrum-halves in the Premiership," said Dallaglio. "He has listened and learned and then put everything into practice. You could always see he had a nice service but what impresses me is how he has worked to improve every aspect of his game. He has developed a real hunger for tries now and has the habit of being in the right place at the right time to finish off moves, as well as making breaks himself. He is a class act."

O'Sullivan has also dropped Denis Hickie – preferring Andrew Trimble on the left wing – and in an occasionally testy press conference yesterday, justified the omission from the bench of Geordan Murphy, who has represented Ireland in four different positions behind the scrum, by arguing that he had played poorly in his last two matches against the French. Gavin Duffy is preferred.

France are experiencing untimely injury problems, with three of their more experienced players, who all came on as replacements during against Namibia, badly affected.

Former captain Fabien Pelous has already been ruled out with a twisted knee, while the current captain Rafael Ibanez is struggling after a blow to his throat in the game in Toulouse and Imanol Harinordoquy is resting after dislocating a thumb.

Former captain Fabien Pelous has already been ruled out with a twisted knee, while the current captain Rafael Ibanez is struggling after a blow to his throat in the game in Toulouse and Imanol Harinordoquy is resting after dislocating a thumb.